Law, Property Rights, and Air Pollution
by Murray N. Rothbard
"No action should be considered illicit or illegal unless it invades, or aggresses
against, the person or just property of another. Only invasive actions should be declared
illegal, and combated with the full power of the law. The invasion must be concrete and
physical."
Libertarian Pollution Control
by Max More
Polycentric Law Versus the Minimal State: The Case of Air Pollution
by Adam Chacksfield
"Fencing the Oceans" A Rights-Based Approach to Privatizing Fisheries
by Birgir Runolfson
"Recently, several countries have replaced fisheries managed by government with systems
based on property rights. Rights-based fishing is increasingly recognized as a practical
alternative to the inefficiencies of direct controls and regulation. On land, the
conversion from medieval common ownership to the private property system is responsible
for increases in economic productivity. The expansion of property rights as a method of
economic organization should extend to individual transferable quotas in fisheries. As
with property rights on land, the use of individual transferable quotas for fish will
yield substantial economic benefits."
How Capitalism Saved the Whales
August 1992
by James S. Robbins
"The first step that led to saving the whales was made by Dr. Abraham Gesner,
a Canadian geologist. In 1849, he devised a method whereby kerosene could be
distilled from petroleum."
How Fishing Communities Protect Their Future
February 1997
by Donald R. Leal
"Scotland’s salmon fishery, based on private fishing rights, is a success story.
However, it is not alone. Where communities can apply and enforce customary rights,
they, too, can avoid the tragedy of the commons. Legal recognition of their informal
rights would go a long way toward ensuring a productive future for community-run
fisheries."
How Property Rights Can Spur Artificial Reefs
February 1997
by Michael De Alessi
"Small fishing communities knew what they were doing when they created the first
artificial reefs out of rocks and logs hundreds of years ago. When large, heavy
objects are dropped into the sea, they attract and propagate large numbers of fish.
In Japan, traditional fishing communities have evolved into cooperatives that own
the reefs outright, and this secure ownership is the reason why their reefs are well
protected, productive resources."
Private fishing rivers and fishing rights
"Scotland is world-famous for its salmon streams, and has a large tourist industry based
on sports fishing for salmon. This is not because Scottish salmon are somehow different
or better than salmon elsewhere in the world (though the Scots insist this is so). Rather,
it is because the rights to fish every inch of every river in Scotland is privately owned,
and the owners have a powerful incentive to keep them clean and well-stocked, since they
make a good business out of issuing permits to sports fishers."
Private Reef Building in Alabama and Florida
June 1, 1996
by Michael De Alessi
"Throughout much of the U.S., artificial reefs are created directly by state conservation
departments. Alabama and Florida are two exceptions: They began to tap the connection
between ownership and stewardship by creating limited areas where private groups and
individuals could create their own reefs. Once the reefs are in the water they become
public property, but the exclusive knowledge of where reefs are located allows
their "owners" to benefit from the productivity of the reefs and discourages them from
overfishing. Of course, this ownership only lasts as long as the reef location remains
a secret, but even this fleeting property right has resulted in a tremendous private
initiative to enhance the marine environment in these two states."
Reef Madness: How Alabama fishermen are repopulating the sea
October 2001
by Ronald Bailey
"The seas have been systematically overfished because of the tragedy of the commons.
We've learned that the creation of artificial reefs increases the fish population, but
they too will be overfished unless we take the next step of creating some form of
ownership of these resources. To be sure, reef manufacturers such as David
Walter -- and fishers -- will gain from privatization. But ultimately everyone will
gain if marine ecosystems are made healthier and fish populations thrive."
Whales and threatened fishing cultures
April 19, 1995
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Peter Baldwin
"In the end, a total ban on all whaling oversimplifies a complex issue. First, not all
whales are threatened. Second, we have the technology to create transferable property
rights in whales. With such guaranteed rights, whales will not be hunted to extinction.
Third, whales are central to traditions of coastal villages in Japan, Norway, and
Iceland. Reasonable harvest poses little threat to the continued existence of these
animals. In contrast, insensitive, imperialistic Western environmentalism surely
threatens these villages when it imposes its tastes on traditional cultures."
An Earlier Response to Environmental Tyranny
April 1998
by Daniel E. Walker
"There was a time when a government elite used its power to enforce draconian laws
concerning wildlife and forests; when the common law was ignored; when special courts
decided cases concerning the environment; and when the government owned great areas
of land, zealously prosecuting and persecuting people who had the audacity to use
natural resources to feed and shelter themselves. So-called crimes on government
lands were met with harsh punishments, far out of proportion to the offenses.
Of course, the government used its laws to raise revenue by imposing severe monetary
fines on offenders; building a hedge or ditch without first having obtained government
permission, for example, would result in a fine at the least.
People who flouted the laws were identified as outlaws. You probably recognize one
of the more prominent names: Robin Hood. He scorned not the Environmental Protection
Agency or Bureau of Land Management or the Endangered Species Act, but the
horrid "forest laws" of England and their enforcers early in this millennium."
Entrepreneurs Harmonize Economies with Ecology
September 04, 1996
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Douglas S. Noonan
"Since the 1970s, entrepreneurial innovation has transformed forest products into a
leaner, cleaner industry. Entrepreneurs found value where waste and pollution once
dominated. They effectively processed the once unusable fiber into valuable goods like
particle board. Entrepreneurial energies created value while by reducing industrial
impact on the environment. The teepee burners were closed and industrial waste became
useful products. Today, less than 5% of wood rolling into timber mills is wasted and
pollution has been cut 80 to 90 percent."
Forests for the People
by Allan Stewart and Miles Saltiel
"The public forest estate no longer serves a public purpose. It occupies 10% of the
area of Great Britain and over 15% of the rural area of mainland Scotland. All of this
is outside local control. Over the last eighty years the national forest policy has
been a complete failure and the Forestry Commission is to blame. There has been no
return on investment, no commercial value and worst has failed to deliver on any of
its objectives. The authors claim that the public forest estate should be freed from
government constraints and protection. The woodlands should be returned gratis to the
residents of the communities of which they could then become part."
Forests for the People, Not Politicians
December 1, 2003
by Roger E. Meiners
"Management of America’s public forests, especially in the west, is based on nationalized
government planning whose rules are determined by politicians. Forest management is under
the direct control of Congressional committees overseeing the Department of Agriculture
(U.S. Forest Service) and the Department of Interior (Bureau of Land Management). The
tragic decision made in Washington some time ago was to stop most thinning and harvesting
on federal lands. This year, requests for federal assistance to remove unhealthy trees on
415,000 acres of federal forest lands in California were mired for months in bureaucratic
machinations."
The Political Economy of Wildfires
June 08, 2000
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Pete Geddes
"In the fire arena it's time to consider replacing Smokey's minions with private
contractors. Agency morale has plummeted and pay stagnated. The Forest Service is
hard pressed to staff fire crews with experienced members. In response, a private
industry of wildlands firefighting has emerged. The Wildfire Contractors Association
and the Ash Kickers provides crews ready to go. Cache Plus and the National Fire
Fighter Corporation supply gear from hoses to trucks. Ecological and economic forces
have provided an excellent seed bed for environmental entrepreneurs."
Thank environmentalism for your wildfires:
"Earth to California"
November 14, 2003
by Robert Bidinotto
"When 1994 wildfires destroyed 3 million acres and killed 14 firefighters, many called
for timber-thinning in these overgrown areas; but the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) opposed these plans as being a mere "pretext for accelerated
logging." You’d think all the deadly fires since would have changed their minds. But
when Congress recently passed the Healthy Forests Initiative, which would fund
tree-thinning measures, the NRDC still opposed the measure, calling it
a "Trojan horse" that would sneak through logging.
For environmentalists, then, it is far better that a state, its citizens, their homes,
and even the environment itself go up in flames, rather than allow anyone to profit
by preventing it."
Recycling Myths
by Lawrence W. Reed
"Environmentalists who put their faith in government, with hardly a scrap of evidence
that suggests they should, seem oblivious to these realities. To them, mountains of
refuse waiting to be recycled into things people don't want at a cost they would never
freely pay is not a reason to abolish mandatory recycling schemes. Instead, it gives
them a reason to pass new laws that would force-feed the economy with recycled products."
Recycling: What a Waste!
October 5, 2005
by Jim Fedako
"What's wrong with recycling? The answer is simple; it doesn't pay. And since it
doesn't pay it is an inefficient use of the time, money, and scarce resources. That's
right, as Mises would have argued: let prices be your guide. Prices are essential to
evaluate actions ex post. If the accounting of a near past event reveals a financial
loss, the activity was a waste of both the entrepreneur's and society's scarce resources."
Freedom works: Global warming
November 3, 2007
by Mark Landsbaum
"Look no further than the Kyoto Protocol's failure to meet targeted CO2 reductions
while simultaneously exempting China and India from its economy-stifling mandates.
Alarmists say without Draconian mandates, economies will suffer. But a recent Wake
Forest University survey of 210 economists found 59 percent believe global warming
would improve the U.S. economy."
Global Politics, Political Warming
January 1998
by Doug Bandow
"Is the sky falling? The burden of proof falls on those demanding the power to levy
new taxes and impose new regulations. Unless and until such evidence appears, the
American people should remain skeptical of the global warming chorus."
Global Warming: Hot Problem or Hot Air?
by Jonathan H. Adler
"The earth is not on the brink of environmental ruin. Even if it were, an international
treaty and global bureaucracy could not save it. The treaty can, however, impoverish
nations, diminish prosperity, and subvert economic liberty—none of which is good for
environmental protection. Indeed, there is more to fear from a global warming treaty
than from global warming itself."
Ill-conceived Policy a Greater Threat Than Global Warming
November 17, 1999
by John A. Baden, Ph.D.
"The great grandchildren of the world's poor are those most likely to be adversely
effected by global warming. Their greatest danger is premature policies which stifle
third world wealth creation. This great truth is often ignored in the debate over
climate change. Advocates of any policy should consider it."
Kyoto Is Unfair to U.S.
October 21, 2004
by S. Fred Singer
"Russia’s economic collapse after 1990 nearly halved its emissions—and the base year
chosen for Kyoto is 1990. This arbitrary choice also favors Germany, which took over
a faltering East German economy, and Great Britain, which switched its electric
generation from coal to natural gas at about that time. We would lose out, and maybe
that’s why our economic competitors are so anxious to get us to ratify Kyoto."
Non-governmental solutions to the 'problem' of global warming
by John Semmens
Semmens addresses how the problem of global warming, if it
is a problem, could be addressed without government
involvement.
U.S. Oil Consumption:
The Environmentalist’s Best Friend
March 14, 2005
by Jim Amrhein
"Look, the harsh reality is that soon all of the oil on the planet is going to get
drilled, tanked, refined, burned, and expelled into the atmosphere as GHG. It’s
unavoidable. The only things we can do to help minimize the effects of this eventuality
on the environment is make sure it happens as much as possible in nations that can be
trusted to do it cleanly and responsibly -- nations like the United States."
Private ways of preserving the heritage
"In Britain as well as in Italy, the Landmark Trust has saved over 200 buildings of
historic interest and architectural importance from decay or unsympathetic alteration.
More than 150 of them have been made available for holidays throughout the year."
Preserving Farm Lands and Open Space
March 08, 2000
by John A. Baden, Ph.D.
"What we desperately need, and need soon, are environmental entrepreneurs to mobilize
people's love for open space. Success requires converting that love into policies giving
land owners strong incentives to preserve open space. Eliminating the inheritance tax
on farms and ranches is an idea to consider."
The Sagebrush Rebellion
by Douglas E. Wentz
"As the above examples show, it is not necessarily destructive of environmental goals
to support the privatization of public lands. Quite to the contrary, in many cases only
private ownership can create the incentives necessary to produce a result that is both
economically efficient and environmentally sound."
Visions Upon the Land: Man and Nature on the Western Range by Karl Hess, Jr.
reviewed by Jonathan H. Adler
"Whether Hess’ plan for privatization—the distribution of shares to all American
citizens that can be used for the purchase of public lands—is the best plan of action
is certainly a matter for debate. Any attempts to privatize federal lands are sure to
meet with strong political opposition. Nonetheless, the direction that must be taken
remains clear: Government control of a half-billion acres of land cannot be allowed to
continue. On this point, Hess demonstrates, both ecologist and classical liberal should
agree. The next step is making it happen."
Wilderness Cathedrals and the Public Good
by William C. Dennis
"Finally, and most importantly, the disestablishment of the wilderness, as with the
disestablishment of the church, would contribute to the expansion of liberty. Wilderness
then would truly contribute to the support of those liberating values held in high
esteem by the preservationist community—values, which it might well be in the public
interest to further."
The Vatican and the Free Market
by John C. Goodman
"Outside the church, economists are one of the few groups who view people as a
resource, rather than as a pollutant."
Our Own Silent Spring
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
"It is estimated that 800,000 children in Africa die from the disease every year,
and as many as three million people altogether every year.
We know how people contract it: from mosquitoes. We know how to control it: kill the
carrier mosquitoes. And we know what kills them: DDT.
So why has the war on malaria failed? Because governments banned the cure. Now they
claim to wonder why people are sick and dying."
Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental Triumph of High
Yield Farming by Dennis T. Avery
reviewed by E. C. Pasour, Jr.
"This book makes a compelling case that high-yield agriculture and free trade throughout
the world are the best ways to protect human health and environmental resources. This
approach is not risk-free but is far less risky than the alternatives."
Making Every Drop Count: The Case for Water Markets
June 1988
by Donald R. Leal
"To make water marketing viable, the Bureau of Reclamation must take steps to
encourage exchange, and private ownership of water rights must be extended to
in-stream water. Fortunately, the outlook for developing political coalitions
to bring about such reforms is promising because water markets offer something
for nearly everyone: They can eliminate water shortages, reduce environmental
degradation, and reduce governmental spending, too."
Socialist Water
by John Taddeo
"Why does city government have a monopoly on delivering water?"
Stewardship Versus Bureaucracy
by Rick Perry
"A market-based system—achieved by placing a value on water inventories would motivate
agricultural producers to increase even further their conservation efforts and enhance
supplies for future generations."
Thirst for Private Water Suppliers Grows
April 03, 1996
by John A. Baden, Ph.D. and Douglas S. Noonan
"Ironically, public water companies were intended to protect the sacred municipal water
supply. What really happens in socialized water systems, however, is something quite
different. Water and other resources are wasted and public health is at risk while
political interests are protected. Now, as Mr. Clinton claims the "era of big
government is over," we can find support for innovative ways to provide public goods.
It takes courage to overcome the outmoded Progressive thinking. Fortunately, thanks to
the Reason Foundation and others, the common sense to see the benefits of privatization
is becoming more common."
User rights and water conservation
"Water is a commodity like any other. Essential commodities like food, clothing, and
shelter are all traded on the market, and income-redistribution, vouchers, or other
mechanisms are used to ensure that everyone, including the poor, have fair access to
them. Water, however, is commonly perceived as being different, which has led to
heavy-handed political intervention and has disrupted the operation of a market.
Fortunately, policymakers are beginning to understand that we can both protect the poor
and foster optimal use and conservation by applying market principles to this vital
resource."
Water is not 'different'
November 30, 2003
by Richard Tren
"The one fundamental problem with declaring anything a public good or common property
is that it provides no incentive to any individual to conserve that good. Well intended
water conservation campaigns may lead to some improved water use at the margin, but
unfortunately do not address the fundamental problem. Human beings the world over respond
to incentives and where those incentives encourage the wasteful use of water, no amount
of pleading from water conservation groups will change that behaviour. The only way to
use water more efficiently is to ensure that it is privately owned and its use is
monitored and paid for."
Water Markets
by National Center for Policy Analysis
Summary of a study done by Terry Anderson and Pamela Snyder in which
they argue for market pricing of water resources.
Water Markets Are the Answer
March 2003
by Charles Oliver
"Privatization, property rights, and water markets could help the southeast make
the best use of its now scarse water."
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
"Fossil Rim is a leader in propagation and management programs, scientific research,
diverse public education initiatives and training facilities for conservation
professionals, and support of conservation programs worldwide. The animals at Fossil
Rim, with the exception of the carnivores, rhinos and a few others, are free to roam
on 1,500 acres of Central Texas hill country savannas and juniper-oak woodlands."
How private groups can help conservation
"Conservation bodies such as RSPB and Birds Australia act as highly efficient agents
to manage wildlife habitat. Such organizations are becoming increasingly popular and are
attracting substantial funding, not only in terms of membership fees, but also through
donations, legacies and commercial activities. They tend to be far more committed,
innovative and efficient than state-run bodies in terms of preserving and protecting
endangered species, other wildlife, and natural habitats."
Linking Liberty, Economy, and Ecology
September 1993
by John A. Baden and Robert Ethier
"The current Endangered Species Act has resulted in an attenuation of property rights
and begun to provoke a backlash fueling the "wise-use" movement. In contrast, land and
ecological trusts are founded upon private property rights. They preserve species by
using, not sabotaging, property rights."
Markets Key to Saving Our Endangered Species
January 1, 1995
by Randy T. Simmons
"Consider the Peregrine Fund, a private foundation that raises Peregrine falcons in
captivity and then releases them. Because of its effort, today there are more pairs
of Peregrine falcons nesting in New Jersey than at any time since records have been
kept—thanks to private efforts, not government or the Endangered Species Act, its
asset forfeiture requirements being in desperate need of reform for man and
wildlife alike."
Nature bites back
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Problems arise when views on animal rights are imposed.
Owls, Ferrets, And Free Markets
by K. L. Billingsley
"In the end, there are only two ways to solve the environmental question: by regulation
or by property rights. According to the best evidence to date, the property rights
approach comes closest to a win-win situation."
Private property rights to wildlife: the Southern African experiment
by Kay Muir-Lesche and Robert H. Nelson
Amidst the chaos in property rights protection in Southern Africa
lies a success story. The private ownership of wildlife over the
past twenty-five years has been relatively effective in recovering
endangered species. Available in Adobe PDF format.
Saved by shooting: How private game parks protect wildlife
"Far more land is now devoted to game parks in Zimbabwe since landowners were given the
privileges and responsibilities of ownership. In 1975 17,000 sq km of private land was
given over to wildlife; by 1990 this figure had risen to 30,000 sq km. As a result there
has been a marked increase in the populations of elephant, rhino, crocodile, ostrich,
leopard and cheetah."
Wildlife in the Marketplace edited by Terry L. Anderson and Peter J. Hill
reviewed by Jane M. Orient
"This compendium of nine articles takes examples from the Hudson's Bay Company,
1700-1763, to emerging Africa, to show how to turn wildlife from a liability into
an asset. It is not a collection of rhetoric but of detailed economic analyses of
how to manage wildlife resources, including endangered species, buttressed with
a wealth of references, tables, and graphs."
Wild Success
by Karl Hess, Jr.
"The lessons of community-based conservation echo from the savannahs and veld of
Southern Africa to the very heart of America."
Wolf Recovery, Political Ecology and Endangered Species
by Charles E. Kay
"Wolf recovery is a bad idea whose time has apparently come—unless, of course, the
Endangered Species Act can be changed."
Zoo, Inc.
by David Haarmeyer and Elizabeth Larson
"For years, private zoological societies worked alongside city zoo officials, raising
funds and running education programs and concession stands. Now, as local governments
are forced to rein in runaway budgets, zoological societies are taking charge of
operating entire zoos. Nearly 40 percent of the 165 American zoos accredited by the
American Zoological Association—among them, zoos in Fort Worth, Cincinnati, New Orleans,
San Diego, and Jackson, Missis-sippi—are run by private, nonprofit societies. And that
figure is on the rise: Officials in Boston, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Fresno, California,
and Birmingham, Alabama, among other U.S. cities, are now considering privatization as
well."
Back to the list of topics
This page was last updated on January 1, 2008.